Inspiration when you need it.

Wake Up Excited about Your Work

The world needs your gifts. The world needs you to come alive. – Jonathan Mead

Getting to know other bloggers is a good perk of publishing a blog. I get inspiration, encouragement and practical advice from a group of talented people who I also consider to be my friends. Fellow blogger Jonathan Mead is one of the best – both in terms of his talent and the size of his heart.

His blog, Illuminated Mind, has an edgy, in-your-face quality that challenges its readers not to be ordinary. There is a revolutionary feel to Jonathan’s work that insists the status quo should be questioned so our minds can be liberated. If you want a direct, no-nonsense approach to following your dreams, Jonathan Mead gives you that, plus much more.

Jonathan and I clearly have different styles, but our passion is the same: To empower people to have whatever they want.

I respect how Jonathan quit a good-paying job to follow his passion. Without a large audience and little internet fame, Jonathan Mead summoned the courage to pursue a career he cared about. As a result of his remarkable journey, Jonathan has developed an online course, Paid to Exist. His program provides a blueprint the rest of us can follow if we would like to get paid for following our passion , too.

I invited Jonathan to share his inspiration behind the program and discuss how you can determine if the online course might be right for you.

The BridgeMaker: What was the inspiration behind creating Paid to Exist?Jonathan Mead: My biggest inspiration was I went through this same journey myself. I worked at a job that I wasn’t fulfilled in, and I spent the majority of my time thinking about how I could actually enjoy my work, and spend my time doing the things that made me excited. I wanted to express my passions and share my talents with the world on my own terms.

Going through my own journey and writing about it I realized that a lot of other people struggle with this too. I created Paid to Exist to help those people, and offer it as my way of giving back.

TBM: Why do you think most people stay stuck in jobs they don’t love?JM: Jobs are comfortable. Someone tells you what to do and you just show up. Following your own dreams and your own passions takes courage. You’re the one in control, and you’re the one who calls the shots.

So, it can be intimidating knowing that your success is up to you. People struggle with gaining confidence that other people will really want and value what they have to offer. But the thing is, most people stop there, they project their fears into the future, rather than making an attempt and seeing what happens. That’s why I’m constantly telling people to test their assumptions.

If you’re afraid of something, or unsure about something, test it. Take action and see what happens. That’s the only way you can know for sure if your fears are real, or imaginary. Most of the time they’re imaginary, they only exist in your head.

TBM: What are the key principles of the Paid to Exist program?JM: Aligning your passion, unique strengths or talents, and serving others in a remarkable way. Really it comes down to those three things. If you get these right, the marketing and a lot of the other stuff tends to take care of itself.

TBM: What type of person is best-suited for this program?JM: Someone that is dissatisfied with the status quo and the idea that work should just be a chore. Someone that wants something more, and wants work and play to be the same are also well-suited for Paid to Exist.

TBM: How does someone enroll and participate in this program?JM: Your readers are invited to visit Paid to Exist where they can learn more about the program and decide whether or not it may be right for them.

Be who you are

The world needs your gifts. Your gifts are unique and they are aligned perfectly with your life’s purpose.

If you could use a roadmap for navigating around the roadblocks that are keeping you stuck in a job that is no longer feeding your passion, then give Jonathan’s program, Paid to Exist, a look. It may give you the encouragement to try something different and begin waking up excited about your work.